Rescuers have recovered the bodies of another five miners who
were trapped in Saturday's gas blast in a coal mine in Linfen, a
coal-rich city in Shanxi Province, north China, bringing the
confirmed death toll to 28.
The fate of other two trapped miners is not known yet as rescue
efforts continue, according to rescue headquarters.
About 100 rescuers are trying to provide ventilation to the
shafts, they said.
"Rescue work is quite difficult since the shaft is still filled
with smoke," said Zhao Tiechui, director of the State
Administration for Coal Mine Safety Supervision, at the scene on
Sunday.
The gas blast occurred around 1:50 PM on Saturday at Pudeng Coal
Mine in Kecheng township of Puxian county where 125 miners were
working.
Ninety-five miners, including 23 who were injured - one
seriously, escaped, according to a press release given by Shanxi
Provincial Bureau of Work Safety on Sunday.
Bureau sources said the coal mine had been earlier ordered to
suspend production but mine operators resumed production on Friday
without a permit.
"The coal mine was in a mess and under poor management," said
the provincial work safety watchdog, adding that the 125 miners who
were working underground at the time of the blast had been hired by
five different mining contractors.
Local police have put the coal mine owner and several managers
under surveillance. Provincial officials have ordered an
investigation into the explosion.
Pudeng Coal Mine, with an annual production capacity of 150,000
tons, was set up in 1986 by a village and became a private venture
in 2004.
The Pudeng explosion is the second colliery accident within six
days in Shanxi, China's largest coal producing province. On Monday,
a blast in an illegal mine at Liujiacun village, Yuxian county,
killed 14 people.
Shanxi boasts of coal reserves topping 264 billion tons,
amounting to 26 percent of the national figure. It produces about
600 million tons of coal a year.
(Xinhua News Agency May 7, 2007)